Bourses manage to hold their heads above water

Indian equity benchmarks managed to hold their heads above water in late afternoon session, on the back of buying witnessed at Energy and Oil & Gas counters. Gains led by major industry leaders like ONGC, Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors - DVR, provided support to the markets. Some relief also came with Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia’s statement that the commerce ministry is working with different ministries to formulate separate plans for 12 services sector, including IT, tourism and logistics, with a view to boost growth in these segments. Domestic sentiments were positive with India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) report that the Indian economy is gradually recovering from note ban and Goods and Service Tax (GST) shocks, with improving major macro parameters like manufacturing, capital goods production, non-food credit and consumption. However, the broader indices remained under pressure, with the losses of more than a percent. The markets’ gains were restricted with Assocham’s statement that President Donald Trump’s announcement of the US pulling out from the Iran deal and his decision to re-impose sanctions on the key crude oil producer will exert pressure on fuel prices and affect the Indian economy on the downside.

On the global front, European markets were trading slightly in green, tracking advances in the US and Asia and with banks leading the charge up after Royal Bank of Scotland agreed to smaller-than-expected settlement with the US. Back home, in scrip specific development, Zen Technologies was trading higher after the company successfully formed a wholly owned subsidiary company namely ‘Zen Technologies USA, Inc’, a Delaware Registered Company, on May 09, 2018.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35354.43, up by 35.08 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 35249.36 and 35500.76. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.23%, while Small cap index was down by 1.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.70%, Oil & Gas up by 0.49%, Bankex up by 0.13% and Telecom up by 0.01%, while Realty down by 1.70%, Power down by 1.52%, Utilities down by 1.42%, Healthcare down by 0.92% and Basic Materials down by 0.77% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 3.06%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.96%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.65%, Indusind Bank up by 1.48% and HDFC Bank up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.90%, Power Grid Corporation down by 2.13%, Tata Motors down by 1.66%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.40% and Tata Steel down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a day after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal and decided to re-impose sanctions on the key crude oil producer, the industry chamber Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has said that this move will exert pressure on fuel prices and affect the Indian economy on the downside.

ASSOCHAM Secretary General D S Rawat has said that while there are other imponderables like Saudi Arabia trying to increase crude output along with major OPEC producers and the US allies like France not being on board, the global economy does face bouts of uncertainty and volatility. He added that in the short term, it is not a good news for the Indian economy, which meets bulk of its crude oil requirements from imports.

Trump had said that he was withdrawing the US from what he called the ‘decaying and rotten’ Iran nuclear deal signed by the Obama regime in 2015, putting him on a collision course with America’s closest allies. Moments later he signed fresh set of sanctions against Iran and warned countries against any cooperation with Tehran on its controversial nuclear weapons programme. The nuclear deal was negotiated and agreed to by Iran and the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, China, Russia, and Germany), granting Iran sanctions relief and returning frozen assets in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme and international inspections.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10744.30, up by 2.60 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 10708.10 and 10785.55. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 3.01%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.91%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.34%, BPCL up by 1.25% and Indusind Bank up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.96%, Power Grid Corporation down by 2.05%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 1.92%, Tata Motors down by 1.89% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Shanghai Composite increased 15.26 points or 0.48% to 3,174.41, KOSPI Index increased 20.18 points or 0.83% to 2,464.16, Taiwan Weighted increased 56.86 points or 0.53% to 10,760.21, Nikkei 225 increased 88.3 points or 0.39% to 22,497.18 and Hang Seng increased 273.08 points or 0.89% to 30,809.22.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 6.17 points or 0.11% to 5,540.80, Germany’s DAX increased 81.70 points or 0.63% to 13,024.76. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 6.89 points or 0.09% to 7,655.63.